ARCHIMEDES AT THE SIEGE OF SYRACUSE

[152] THE city of Syracuse, the capital of Sicily, rose to
prominence in ancient history through its three famous
sieges. The first of these was that long siege which
ruined Athens and left Syracuse uncaptured. The second
was the siege by Timoleon, who took the city almost
without a blow. The third was the siege by the Romans,
in which the genius of one man, the celebrated
mathematician and engineer Archimedes, long set at
naught all the efforts of the besieging army and fleet.

This remarkable defence took place during the wars with
Hannibal. Such was the warlike energy of the Romans,
that, while their city itself was threatened by this
great general, they sent armies abroad, one into Spain
and another into Sicily. The latter, under a consul
named Appius, besieged Syracuse by sea and land. Hoping
to take the city by sudden assault, before it could be
properly got ready for defence, Appius pushed forward
his land force, fully provided with blinds and ladders,
against the walls. At the same time a fleet of sixty
quinqueremes under the consul Marcellus advanced to the
assault from the side of the harbor. Among these
vessels were eight which had been joined together
[153] two and two, and which carried machines called
sackbuts. These consisted of immensely long ladders,
projecting far beyond the bows, and so arranged that
they could be raised by ropes and pulleys, and the end
let fall upon the top of the wall. Four men, well
protected by wooden blinds, occupied the top of each
ladder, ready to attack the defenders of the walls
while their comrades hastened up the ladder to their
aid.

There was only one thing on which the consuls had not
counted, and that was that Syracuse possessed the
greatest artificer of ancient times. They had to fight
not Syracuse alone but Syracuse and Archimedes; and
they found the latter their most formidable foe. In
short, the skill of this one man did more to baffle the
Romans than the strength and courage of all the
garrison.

The historian Polybius has so well told the story of
this famous defence, that we cannot do better than
quote from his work. He remarks, after describing at
length the Roman preparations,

"In this manner, then, when all things were ready, the
Romans designed to attack the towers. But Archimedes
had prepared machines that were fitted to every
distance. While the vessels were yet far removed from
the walls, he, employing catapults and balistæ that
were of the largest size and worked by the strongest
springs, wounded the enemy with his darts and stones,
and threw them into great disorder. When the darts
passed beyond them he then used other machines, of a
smaller size, and proportioned to the distance. By
these means the Romans were
[154] so effectually repulsed that it was not possible for
them to approach.

"Marcellus, therefore, perplexed with this resistance,
was forced to advance silently with his vessels in the
night. But when they came so near to the land as to be
within the reach of darts, they were exposed to a new
danger, which Archimedes had contrived. He had caused
openings to be made in many parts of the wall, equal in
height to the stature of a man, and to the palm of the
hand in breadth. Then, having planted on the inside
archers and little scorpions, he discharged a multitude
of arrows through the openings, and disabled the
soldiers that were on board. In this manner, whether
the Romans were at a great distance or whether they
were near, he not only rendered useless all their
efforts, but destroyed also many of their men.

"When they attempted also to raise the sackbuts,
certain machines which he had erected along the whole
wall inside, and which were before concealed from view,
suddenly appeared above the wall and stretched their
long beaks far beyond the battlements. Some of these
machines carried masses of lead and stone not less than
ten talents [about eight hundred pounds] in weight.
Accordingly, when the vessels with the sackbuts came
near, the beaks, being first turned by ropes and
pulleys to the proper point, let fall their stones,
which broke not only the sackbuts but the vessels
likewise, and threw all those who were on board into
the greatest danger.

"In the same manner also the rest of the machines, as
often as the enemy approached under cover of
[155] their blinds, and had secured themselves by that
protection against the darts that were discharged
through the openings in the wall, let fall upon them
stones of so large a size that all the combatants on
the prow were forced to retire from their station.

"He invented, likewise, a hand of iron, banging by a
chain from the beak of a machine, which was used in the
following manner. The person who, like a pilot, guided
the beak, having let fall the hand and caught hold of
the prow of any vessel, drew down the opposite end of
the machine, that was inside of the walls. When the
vessel was thus raised erect upon its stern, the
machine itself was held immovable; but the chain being
suddenly loosened from the beak by means of pulleys,
some of the vessels were thrown upon their sides,
others turned with their bottoms upward, and the
greatest part, as the prows were plunged from a
considerable height into the sea, were filled with
water, and all that were on board thrown into tumult
and disorder.

"Marcellus was in no small degree embarrassed when he
found himself encountered in every attempt by such
resistance. He perceived that all his efforts were
defeated with loss, and were even derided by the enemy.
But, amidst all the anxiety that he suffered, he could
not help jesting upon the inventions of Archimedes.

" 'This man,' said he, 'employs our ships as buckets to
draw water, and, boxing about our sackbuts, as if they
were unworthy to be associated with him, drives them
from his company with disgrace.' Such was the success
of the siege on the side of the sea.

[156] "Appius also, on his part, having met with the same
obstacles in his approaches, was in like manner forced
to abandon his design. For while he was yet at a
considerable distance, great number of his men were
destroyed by the balistæ and the catapults, so
wonderful was the quantity of stones and darts, and so
astonishing the force with which they were thrown. The
means, indeed, were worthy of Hiero, who had furnished
the expense, and of Archimedes, who designed them, and
by whose directions they were made.

"If the troops advanced nearer to the city, they either
were stopped in their advance by the arrows that were
discharged through the openings in the walls, or, if
they attempted to force their way under cover of their
bucklers, they were destroyed by stones and beams that
were let fall upon their heads. Great mischief also was
occasioned by these hands of iron that have been
mentioned; for they lifted men with their armor into
the air and dashed them upon the ground. Appius,
therefore, was at last constrained to return back again
into his camp."

This ended the assault. For eight months the Romans
remained, but never again had the courage to make a
regular attack, depending rather on the hope of
reducing the crowded city by famine. "So wonderful, and
of such importance on some occasions, is the power of a
single man, and the force of science properly employed.
With so great armies both by sea and land the Romans
could scarcely have failed to take the city, if one old
man had been removed. But while he was present they did
not even dare to
[157] make the attempt; in the manner, at least, which
Archimedes was able to oppose." The story was told in
past times that the great scientist set the Roman ships
on fire by means of powerful burning glasses, but this
is not believed.

The end of this story may be briefly told. The Romans
finally took the city by surprise. Tradition tells
that, as the assailants were rushing through the
streets, with death in their hands, they found
Archimedes sitting in the public square, with a number
of geometrical figures drawn before him in the sand,
which he was studying in oblivion of the tumult of war
around. As a Roman soldier rushed upon him sword in
hand, he called out to the rude warrior not to spoil
the circle. But the soldier cut him down. Another story
says that this took place in his room.

When Cicero, years afterwards, came to Syracuse, he
found the tomb of Archimedes overgrown with briers, and
on it the figure of a sphere inscribed in a cylinder,
to commemorate one of his most important mathematical
discoveries.

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